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Turkish Press Review, 09-05-26
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
26.05.2009
CONTENTS
[01] GUL RECEIVES MEMBERS OF MIT'S INNOVATION AND GLOBAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
[02] ERDOGAN, DAVUTOGLU TO VISIT GREECE NEXT MONTH
[03] GOV'T URGES EU LEADERS TO LIVE UP THEIR COMMITMENTS TO TURKEY
[04] ENERGY MINISTER ATTENDS G-8 MEETING
[05] SWEDISH FM BILDT: "EUROPE NEEDS TURKEY"
[06] NAMSO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CLEARING THE MINES
[01] GUL RECEIVES MEMBERS OF MIT'S INNOVATION AND GLOBAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
President Abdullah Gul yesterday received a delegation from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Innovation and Global
Leadership Program at the Cankaya Presidential Palace. Briefing the
delegation about Turkey's policies on regional and global problems, Gul
told them that Turkey's efforts aimed to serve peace and stability across
the world. Stressing the key roles assumed by Turkey in recent years in
solving such issues as Iraq, Middle East, the Caucasus, Afghanistan and
Pakistan, President Gul said Turkey makes an all-out effort to serve peace
and stability all over the world without expecting anything in return.
Touching on the remarkable economic and democratic transformation process
that Turkey has been passing through for nearly a decade, Gul said, "This
process made Turkey a foreign investment magnet, and thus the foreign
capital inflow into Turkey in recent years reached $25-30 billion thanks to
this process." On Turkey's EU accession bid, Gul recalled that Turkey had
met political criteria as a precondition to launch accession talks with the
EU. Stressing that Turkey places great importance on its EU accession goal,
Gul also reiterated that Turkey would determinedly continue to progress
towards this end. /Star/
[02] ERDOGAN, DAVUTOGLU TO VISIT GREECE NEXT MONTH
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to visit Greece next month
to attend the opening ceremony of the New Acropolis archaeological Museum,
which is being built at the base of the Acropolis. He will also hold
bilateral talks with his Greek counterpart Costas Karamanlis. Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also will travel next month to the Greek island
Corfu, where he will attend the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) foreign ministers' meeting. /Star/
[03] GOV'T URGES EU LEADERS TO LIVE UP THEIR COMMITMENTS TO TURKEY
Speaking to reporters after a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Deputy Prime
Minister and government spokesman Cemil Cicek called on EU members to make
consistent decisions on Turkey's prospective full membership to the 27-
member bloc. “We have always stressed that Turkey would not be a burden
on the Union. The EU might become an economic power without Turkey, but it
cannot become a strategic power. Turkey is an opportunity for the EU," he
said. Urging EU leaders to keep their promises made to Turkey, Cicek said,
"We stand by our words and expect them to do the same." Cicek also said
that Turkey was pushing forward with new reforms to achieve its goal of EU
full membership. He said that the government would speed up efforts to
finalize the Judicial Reform Strategy by the end of June in contact with
members of the judiciary and jurists, adding that the Justice Ministry
would have a final say on the planned strategy. Cicek also said that prior
to the Parliament's summer recess, the government would try to pass a set
of top priority bills regarding EU accession reforms and basic laws, and
measures to reduce impacts of the ongoing global economic crisis on
Turkey's economy. /Turkiye/
[04] ENERGY MINISTER ATTENDS G-8 MEETING
Energy Minister Taner Yildiz went to Rome, Italy yesterday to attend the G-
8 energy ministers meeting, with international energy companies
representatives also in attendance. The energy cooperation and problems
were discussed during the meeting. Apart from Turkey, ministers from
Australia, Brazil, Algeria, China, Indonesia, South Africa, India, South
Korea, Libya, Mexico, Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia also attended
the meeting in addition to G-8 member states. /Today's Zaman/
[05] SWEDISH FM BILDT: "EUROPE NEEDS TURKEY"
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt yesterday said that Europe needs Turkey
in order to exert its authority in the world. In an interview with French
daily Le Figaro, Bildt stated that the European Union would need Turkey's
economic dynamism and demographic structure in the future, adding,
"Approaching Turkey is necessary for Europe's strategic interest." He also
said that Turkey's accession would be an important factor to provide EU's
peace with the Islam world. /Aksam/
FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…
[06] NAMSO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CLEARING THE MINES
BY ATILGAN BAYAR (AKSAM)
Columnist Atilgan Bayar comments on Turkey's NAMSA membership and the mine
clearing work. A summary of his column is as follows:
"NATO established an organization in 1958 so that member countries can
jointly carry out the maintenance, feeding, supply and technical work
related to their armed forces' weapons, ammunition and equipment in times
of war and peace. This organization is called NATO Maintenance and Supply
Organization, namely, NAMSO. The NAMSO members are Belgium, Bulgaria,
Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland,
Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Britain and the US. The NAMSO
also consists of an operational agency called NAMSA, which was established
to furnish service in cooperation, as it was considered that the NATO
member armed forces' ownership of all kinds of maintenance, repair,
cleansing and similar systems would be very expensive. This agency is
certainly a non-profit organization. You can access these principles on
http:/_www.namsa.nato.int_about_about/e.htm.
So the NATO member Turkey has necessary equipment and organization to clear
the mines in the framework of its borders. The NAMSO_NAMSA is responsible
for undertaking this job at cost. Turkey is also entitled to purchase this
service from NATO at cost. This information shows us that the thesis of
'Turkish army doesn't have the equipment to clear the mines within its own
borders' is totally invalid and that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) is the
member of an organization which would carry out the clearing work and its
organizational agency under same conditions as other NATO member countries.
Firstly we should be aware of this fact. Then we can discuss if we can give
out the work of clearing the mines on our Syrian border to other parties by
contract, in the case that this work doesn't cause a threat of National
Security or provide Turkey with great financial benefits. But Turkey has
the necessary possibilities and partnership within the NATO so that this
clearing work can be carried out. It's not obliged to make a third party,
for example, Israil, perform this job. The clearing work to be carried out
by NAMSA means the cleansing work to be carried out by TSK itself. We
haven't become a NATO member without any reason. While talking about the
conditions of giving out the work of clearing the mines to foreigners, the
public shouldn't think that Turkey isn't capable of doing this."
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